The present discovery constitutes a new and distinct variety of a miniature rose plant which was discovered in a cultivated area in Fredensborg, Denmark. The mutation resulted from xe2x80x98POULracxe2x80x99, a miniature pot rose hybridized by the same inventors, which is the subject of U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,543, issued on Oct. 3, 2000. The new rose variety resulted from a naturally occurring mutation of unknown causation on a branch of xe2x80x98POULracxe2x80x99.
The antecedent cultivar xe2x80x98POULracxe2x80x99 has red flowers while xe2x80x98POULelexe2x80x99 has hot-pink flowers.
The rose plant of the present discovery has a unique combination of characteristics which are outstanding in the new variety and which distinguish it from the original rose xe2x80x98POULracxe2x80x99 as well as all other varieties which we are aware of. For example, the new variety has:
. Abundant, hot-pink, double flowers;
. Vigorous and compact growth;
. Year-round flowering under glasshouse conditions;
. Suitability for production from softwood cuttings in pots;
. Durable flowers and foliage which make the variety suitable for distribution in the floral industry.
The combination of qualities of this variety represents significant improvement over previously available commercial cultivars of this type and distinguishes xe2x80x98POULelexe2x80x99 from all other varieties of which we are aware. As part of their rose development program, L. Pernille Olesen and Mogens N. Olesen germinated the seeds from the aforementioned discovery and conducted evaluations on the resulting seedlings in a controlled environment in Fredensborg, Denmark, in May of 1998.
Asexual reproduction of xe2x80x98POULelexe2x80x99 by cuttings and traditional budding was first done by L. Pernille and Mogens N. Olesen in Fredensborg, Denmark in October of 1998. This initial and other subsequent propagations conducted in controlled environments have demonstrated that the characteristics of xe2x80x98POULelexe2x80x99 are true to type and are transmitted from one generation to the next.